ANNIVERSARY  ADDRESS 


DEI  IVKUKI)    n\     1  in 


SECOND   COMMENCEMENT 


SOUTHERN  BAPTIST 


®Iu0l0Dtntl  j$tfthrxrg, 


AT    G  R  KKX  V  I  Lb  E,  S.  Q. 


Monday,  May  27th,   1861, 


BY   REV.   E.  T .  W  I  N  K  LEB,  D .  D . 


PUBLISHED   ii  v   Tin;   r  \i  i  j  i  ■»  . 


CHARLESTON: 

•  TEAM-POWER    PRESSES    <>i      KVAXfl    l    COGSWELL, 

7\  l'-ri.  i<l  ud  103  Knot  Hay  Streets. 


TREASURE  ROOM 


George  Washington  Flowers 
Memorial  Collection 

DUKE  UNIVERSITY  LIBRARY 


ESTABLISHED  BY  THE 

FAMILY  OF 

COLONEL  FLOWERS 


ANNIVERSARY  ADDRESS 


DELIVERED    ON    THE 


SECOND   COMMENCEMENT 


SOUTHERN  BAPTIST 


A  T    GREENVILL  E,  S.  C. 

Monday,  May  27th,  1861. 

BY    REV.   E .  T .  W  I N  K  L  E  B ,  I) .  D . 


II  BLIflHftD    BT    THE    FACTI.TY. 


CHABLESTON: 

BTKAM-FOWKH     FRSBSBfl    <>i      KVAN8    &    COQSWKLL, 

..  Broad  »ni  M  y.»-i  is,iy  streot*. 

18(11. 


■3 


■3<f 


-  uJ^-^-c  Cjr<- 


Tv."K 


■S-^&TW 


ANNIVERSARY   ADDRESS. 


Brethren  of  the  Faculty,  and  Students  of  the 

Southern  Baptist  Theological  Seminary: 

It  is  a  privilege  to  take  part  in  the  solemn,  and  ye(  the 
genial,  exercises  of  this  day.  Through  the  prudenl  plans, 
die  Christian  sacrifices,  and  the  energetic  conduct  of  a 
single  man.  tins  [nstitution  lias  been  reared;  through  the 
liberality  of  a  denomination,  whose  members,  in  our 
various  States,  at  once  acknowledged  the  grandeur  of  its 
object  and  the  justice  of  its  claims,  the  enterprise  has 
been  sustained;  by  the  laborious  and  learned  Gdelity  of 
its  professors,  it  has  been  conducted  to  its  present  state 
of  prosperity.  And  this  community  is  now  permitted  to 
celebrate  the  services  of  its  second  commencement. 

I'jiou  such  an  occasion  it  is  natural  that  we  should 
dwell,  with  a  certain  grateful  feeling,  upon  the  character 
of  our  Institution.  In  common  with  seminaries  ofa  simi- 
lar sort,  it  is  tributary  to  the  nobler  portion  of  man's 
being;  and  it  also  renders  gratuitous  instructions,  accord- 
ing to  the  prescription  of  Him,  who  said :  '•  Freely  ye  have. 
received,  freely  give."  But  this  Theological  Seminary  is 
especially  worthy  of  regard^  on  account  of  its  flexible 
application  to  the  various  orders  of  intellect  and  degrees 
of  attainment,  and  to  the  different  circumstances  of  those 
who  resorl  to  its  instructions.  Who  can  fail  to  observe 
the  wise  and  admirable  adjustment  to  these  diversities, 
in  the  compression  of  each  study  within  a  single  year; 
in  the   Ordering   of  the   school-,  so   that    the   student    may 

select  from  them  in  such  manner,  as  to  Bupply  hi-  defi- 
ciencies, and  prepare  himself  Bpeedily  for  his  work  ;  ami 
the  further  division  between  the  English  and  the  learned 

departments     of    schools,     wherein     the    same     thoughtful 

consideration    of  the  student's  wants  and  opportui 

is  displayed  ?     And  who  of  us  is  without  a  sens*  of  grati- 


P 62727 


tude  at  the  thought,  that  this  seminary,  having  already 
received  for  the  most  part,  and  being  about  to  receive  in 
entirety,  an  ample  endowment,  bids  fair  to  last  forever  ? 

Does  it  not  remind  us  to-day,  although  it  has  yet  no 
outward  show  to  commend  it,  of  those  comprehensive 
foundations  to  which,  in  the  twelfth  century,  the  name 
of  "University"  was  first  applied— the  Sorbonnes  and 
Oxfords  where  science  and  religion  collected  their  diverse 
and  yet  harmonious  schools  beneath  the  Gothic  arches — 
those  institutions  that  seemed  to  have  discovered  the 
secret  of  perpetual  youth — that  in  the  conflicts  of  centu- 
ries stood  fast,  rearing  their  holy  towers  above  the  mists 
of  morning  and  the  dusts  of  noon,  and  "pointing  in 
silence  heavenward."* 

It  would  be  of  deep  interest,  did  the  time  serve  and 
the  occasion  permit,  to  trace  the  links  which  bind  our 
Institution  to  the  general  history  of  learning.  It  would 
be  pleasant  to  enumerate  those  convocations  and  those 
saintly  spirits  who,  age  after  age,  have  devoted  them- 
selves to  instruction  because  of  their  great  love  to  Christ 
and  to  the  souls  of  men;  who  asserted  that  knowledge 
must  be  freely  imparted,  because  it  was  religious — because 
God  had  assigned  to  sinners,  saved  by  grace,  to  erect  the 
new  Kingdom  of  Light  upon  the  ruins  of  the  classic  world; 
and  who  often  illustrated  the  condescensions  of  learning 
by  marching  with  their  pupils,  after  the  recitations  were 
over,  back  to  their  homes,  lest  some  harm  or  temptation 
should  befall  them  by  the  way.  Pleasant  it  would  be  to 
revisit  that  Mother-School  of  Alexandria,  illustrious  with 
the  names  oi  Clement  and  Origen,  where  the  most  mag- 
nificent intellects  of  the  age  deduced  from  the  Bible  the 
essential  principles  "  of  philosophy,  of  politics  and  legis- 
lation, of  eloquence  and  poetry,  of  all  truth,  all  inspira- 
tion, all  beauty. "f  Will  not  the  reassertion  of  these  prin- 
ciples, at  some  future  period,  constitute  such  a  "  Ees- 
tauration  of  the  Sciences"  as  Bacon  never  dreamed  of? 
Pleasant  it  would  be  to  descend  into  that  more  ancient 
school — the  subterranean  catacombs  of  Saint  Agnes — 
through  chapels  panelled  with  paintings  and  with  tombs, 

*  Lyra  Apostolica,  217.  f  Abbe  de  Jager. 


to  those  unadorned  halls  "where  a  seat  carved  ou1  of  (ho 
soft  tufa  murks  where  the  master  presided  in  the  old  days 
of  persecution  ;  and  the  opposite  settle  of  stone,  wh  ere  the 
first  Christian  scholars  were  arranged  before  him.  We 
would  have  liked  to  accompany  Patrick,  the  founder  of 
the  Irish  Schools  in  the  fourth  century,  when,  having 
desired  to  set'  the  t'niit  of  his  thirty  years'  lahors,  he  fell 
into  a  trance,  and  was  carried  to  a  high  mountain  which 
commanded  a  view  of  the  whole  island  ;  and  lo  !  from  sea 
to  sea,  it  was  on  fire,  and  the  tire  was  the  light  of  faith  ! 
We  have  attended  in  fancy  tin1  saintly  Germain  of  the 
sixth  century,  when  he  sat  in  the  apsis  of  the  Basilica  at 
Paris,  with  his  priests  and  deacons  around  him  all  in 
white,  and  before  him  his  scholars,  in  two  choirs,  singing 
under  his  direction  the  Psalms  of  David.  And  yonder, 
in  the  seventh  century,  is  the  old  palace  of  the  Lateral! 
where  Gregory  the  Great  had  his  school,  and  the  bed  from 
which  he  taught  when  the  infirmities  of  ago  oppressed 
him.  and  the  portentous  rod  with  which  he  used  to  men- 
ace the  slothful.  And  here  was  a  school,  at  Condat, 
where  two  whole  languages  were  taught;  and  here  ano- 
ther, where  the  most  learned  monk  of  the  Benedictine 
company  devoted  three  mortal  hours  a  day  to  the  work 
of  instruction  ;  and  here  another,  proud  of  its  library — a 
little  collection  of  Greek  ami  Latin  Fathers — hut  prouder 
of  one  splendid  missal  that  the  ladies  of  Flanders  had 
transcribed,  and  illuminated  with  gold  and  gems;  and 
yonder  we  think  the  good  fathers  must  he  tolerably  safe 
from  intrusion,  for  they  have  perched  their  scholastic 
retreat  mountain-high  at  Bobbio,  among  the  very  eyries 
of  the  eagles  ! 

And   bo,  onward   from   those  old  days,  where  We  have 
delayed   the  longer  because  they  are  so  picturesque  ami 
gonial,  the  moon  between   religion  ami  learning  has  been 
maintained.     It  is  easy  to  recognize  it  in  the  golden 
of  Charlemagne-]  and   A.lcuin — -amid  that  gloomy  pi 
ensuing,  wherein  the  lighl  of  truth  continually  struggled 


*  Cliovii.  Bienfaita,  otc  dn(  nrlitiitninnio,  5S3-C11. 
fit  wai  tins  great  monarch  who  established  tht    I 

i.y  llinii'T.  \"i  8|  i    I  - 


n  o  o  n  o  ri 


6 

(as  now  again  in  our  present  political  crisis)  with  north- 
ern and  feudal  barbarity,  and  the  blessed  voices  of  Gcrizim 
were  well  nigh  drowned  by  the  curses  from  Ebal — in  the 
age  of  subtle  dialectics  which  thence  extended  onward  to 
the  Reformation  —  in  the  age  of  criticism  and  controversy 
which  that  great  change  inaugurated — and  finally,  in  that 
age  of  philosophic  thought  which  has  now  indefinitely 
extended  over  one  or  two  recent  centuries.*  The  sum- 
mary of  Chateaubriand,*}"  although  imperfect,  deserves  to 
be  recorded-  he  justly  claims  as  attestations  of  the  im- 
mense achievements  of  religion,  all  the  famous  nurseries 
of  science  in  Europe  —  the  University  of  France,  by 
whose  means  Alcuin  sought  to  change  a  barbarian  Em- 
pire into  "a  Christian  Athens;"  Cambridge,  the  alma 
mater  of  JNewton,  and  Oxford,  boastful  of  her  friar 
Bacon,  and  her  Thomas  More,  her  Persian  library,  her 
mss.  of  Homer,  her  Arundelian  marbles  and  her  excellent 
editions  of  the  classics;  Glasgow  and  Edinburgh,  in  Scot- 
land ;  Leipsic,  Jena,  Tubingen,  in  Germany;  Leyden, 
Utrecht  and  Louvain,  in  the  .Netherlands;  Gandia,  Alcala 
and  Salamanca,  in  Spain.  The  seminary  whose  com- 
mencement we  now  celebrate,  is  but  one  of  the  ex- 
pressions of  that  antique  alliance  between  intellect  and 
religion.  It  belongs  to  that  series  of  radiant  ensigns 
which  has  led  the  progress  of  the  ages,  and  upon  whose 
folds  it  has  been  inscribed,  that  the  God  whom  Christians 
serve,  is  light,  and  with  Him  is  no  darkness  at  all. 

But,  not  to  lose  ourselves  in  this  wide  field,  we  return 
to  the  fact  that  it  is  a  theological  institution  whose  an- 
niversary we  honor — an  institution  in  which  the  purer 
spirit  of  the  past  is  concentrated — an  institution  in  which, 
as  of  old,  religion  overshadows  secular  science — an  insti- 
tution which  bears  the  same  relation  to  the  higher  semi- 
naries of  learning  amongst  us  as  the  normal  school  bears 
to  the  common  •schools — and  for  this  reason,  that  in  our 
institution  arc  to  be' educated  the  highest  teachers  of  the 
people.  Such  a  co-ordination  of  studies,  let  us  say,  has 
been  recognized  from  the  earliest  times.     It  is  impossible 

*P>aliiies'  Protestantism  and  Catholicism,  412. 
f  Genius  of  Christianity,  part  iv,  bk.  G,  ch.  5. 


to  designate  that  ancient  period  when  the  liberal  arts 
were  distinguished  as  seven,  and  these  seven  were  divid- 
ed into  two  classes: — Ethics,  which  was  called  Trivium, 
or  the  Triple  Way,  and  which  included  grammar,  dia- 
lectics and  rhetoric;  and  Physics,  to  wh'ch  was  applied 
the  name  of  Quadrivium,  or  the  Quadruple  Way,  and 
which  included  arithmetic,  geometry,  astronomy  and  mu- 
sic. These  classes  of  arts  were  styled  "  ways,"  because 
they  led  on  to  something  nobler — to  the  crowning  sci- 
ence of  theology.  We  find  this  distinction  and  Bub- 
ordination  recognised  not  only  in  the  seminaries  of 
continental  Europe,  bu1  in  those  of  Ireland  in  the  age 
of  Columban.  The  famous  schools  of  the  Emerald 
Isle  not  only  sought  to  instruct  all  the  nations  of  their 
time;  hut  also  to  subsidize  all  knowledge — Barbarian, 
Roman,  Greek — to  the  interests  of  the  Christian  plan  : 
and  hence  it  has  been  said  of  them  that  they  knew  how 
to  popularize  antiquity,  and  to  weave  Homer's  laurelled 
wreath  into  the  legendary  crown  of  their  Saints. 

The  acknowledgment  of  these  simple  times  is  well 
worthy  of  being  now  repeated.  We  need  now  to  avail 
Ourselves  of  every  means  of  influence  in  order  to  secure- 
to  religion  the  firsl  place  in  the  majestic  procession  of 
the  sciences.  In  those  old  times  when  the  patriarchal 
life  seemed  to  share  in  the  venerable  permanence  "f 
nature,  and  he  who  was  a  father,  was  also  an  anointed 
priest  and  absolute  king  of  his  household,  it  would  have 
been  an  enormous  crime  in  a  child  to  make  light  of  the 
relation.  Who  can  forget  that  curse  upon  Canaan,  which, 
denounced  in  the  days  of  Noah,  went  on  in  repeated  ful- 
filments through  the  history  of  the  Jews;  which  formed 
the  dark  hack  ground  of  all  their  festive  and  radiant 
scenes,  and  sent  it*-  deep  and  plaintive  undertone  through 
all  their  songs  of  victory !     And  surely  nol  less  criminal 

is  the  warfare  of  that  pretentious  and  unthankful  erudi- 
tion,  which,  gaining  strength   in   these  late  years,  now 

menaces  the  hoary  author  of  its  being: 

■■  Voice  of  the  wiee  of  < •  "I « 1  ! 

Q  '.  breathe  your  thrilling  whicpert  now 
I.i  oelli  where  learned  eves  late  \i_il-  bold, 
Ami  teach  pi  'ii  I  here  in  veil  her  I 


8 

We  deem  it  proper,  and  not  unsuitable  to  the  present 
occasion,  to  vindicate  whatever  the  learning  of  eighteen 
hundred,  years  has  uttered  in  reference  to  the  supremacy 
of  theological  studies.  And  to  this  end,  permit  us  to 
exhibit  the  grandeur  of  the  office  to  which  theology  CDK- 
tributcs  and  the  beneficence  of  the  sphere  which  it  pre- 
pares men  to  fill. 

We  say.  then,  that  the  value  of  theological  studies  is 
to  be  estimated  by  the  dignity  of  that  office  to  which 
they  contribute — -the  office  of  the  Christian  ministry. 
Can  we  overestimate  that  office,  whether  we  Consider  the 
circumstances  of  its  establishment,  the  method  of  its 
procurement^  or  the  ends  of  its  appointment?* 

How  sublime  was  the  occasion  when  this  office  was 
bestowed  as  a  gift  of  Christ  upon  his  people  !  It  was 
imparted  when  Jesus  made  his  glorious  and  triumphal 
ascension  to  the  Mediatorial  throne.  As  ancient  con- 
querors celebrated  their  victories,  with  kings  at  their  cha- 
riot wheels,  and  scattering  rich  gifts  among  the  soldiers 
and  the  spectators,  so  Christ  is  represented  as  celebrating 
the  victories  of  Redemption.  He  ascended  with  such 
majesty  as  encompassed  Jehovah  when  he  went  up  from 
Sinai.  lie  ascended  among  the  angels,  leading  captivity 
captive,  having  conquered  Satan,  sin  and  death,  as  for- 
merly the  flower  of  the  Egyptian  people  had  been  con- 
qucred,  when  the  Monarch  of  Israel  overwhelmed  them 
in  the  waves  of  the  sea.  Christ  displayed  his  triumphs 
to  the  angels,  but  his  princely  largesses  he  scattered 
among  his  churches.  "He  gave  gifts  to  men."  What 
were  these  gifts? — sanctifying  graces  for  his  people,  but 
chiefly  ministerial  graces;  "  Me  gave  some  prophets  and 
apostles,  a  ml  some  pastors  and  teachers"  He  gave  instruct- 
ors to  his  people;  and  these  instructors  he  endowed  with 
gifts  for  that  grand  office  which  ministers  to  the  number 
of  the  redeemed,  and  to  the  acclamations  that  swell 
around  the  throne  of  God  through  eternity.  Men  can 
make  a  prelate,  a  cardinal  or  a  pope  !  it  is  Christ  only 
who  can  make  a  gospel  minister.    And  therefore  it  is  that 

*  Owen  (vol.  4.  p.  49S)  has  discussed  this  subject  with  his  usual  simplicity  and  sug- 
gestivsness.    To  this  discussion  I  am,  to  somo  extent,  indebted  here  and  subsequently. 


9 

when  such  a  man  is  set  apart  to  his  high  office,  no 
outward  show  is  needed — no  uplifted  crosses,  no  floating 
incense,  no  pealing  anthems,  no  dark  robes  falling  in 
graceful  folds.  The  splendor  of  the  occasion  is  invisible. 
Its  triumphant  choristers  are  unheard  by  mortal  ears. 
It  has  already  boen  gloriously  celebrated  in  the  heavenly 
sanctuary  of  God.  Enough  for  us  it  is.  to  welcome  each 
new  minister  as  a  gift  which  our  ascended  Lord  imparts 
to  his  people;  to  realize  that  now  Jesus,  our  King,  lifts 
up  his  sceptre  among  us,  and  that  "being  by  the  right  hand, 
of,  God  exalted,  <///</  having  received  of  the  Fatfu  r.  the  promise 
of  the  Holy  Ghost,  hr  hath  shed- forth  tin's  that  ye  noic  .s<  e 
and  hear."  How  dignified  is  thai  office  which  dates  from 
Christ's  coronation  day,  and  which  still  attests  his  roy- 
alty : 

Again,  the  method  by  which  this  grace  was  secured  is 
not  less  illustrious  than  the  occasion  on  which  il  was 
imparted.  The  humiliation  of  the  Son  of  God  secured 
this  precise  blessing.  Hence  the  Apostle  teaches,  that 
our  Lord,  tor  this  end.  u descended  f<<  tin  lower  parts  of  the 

earth"  By  this  term  is  either  indicated  the  world  in 
which  we  dwell,  which  is  sunk  so  low  in  God's  universe  by 
the  sin  that  has  entered  it  ;  or  is  suggested  the  tact  that 
Christ's  lifeless  body  was  consigned  to  the  dark  under- 
ground ot  the  grave.  And  now  the  doctrine  of  the  ApOS- 
tle  is  thai  these  humiliations  .procured  the  granl  of  the 
ministry  to  Christ's  people.  The  Redeemer  broughl  the 
office  from  his  dishonored  grave.  So  deep  did  he  set  the 
foundations  of  his  power  as  the  King  of  Zion,  and  by 
such  a  condescension  did  he  secure  the  ministry  a-  :i 
royal  embassy  to  man.  On  the  cross,  he  slew  the  enmity 
between  the  Creator  and  the  creature ;  be  submitted  t" 
the  last  demand  of  the  violated  law  in  the  tomb,  and 
thence  eoming  forth  he  said  to  his  disciples:  "Go  teach  <ill 
n, it  inns,  baptizing  them  in  th,  name  of  tfu  Father,  <nnl  of  the 
Son,  and  of  tin  Holy  Glwst  ,•  ,//(,/  h,,  I  ,i,n  with  you  alway, 
even  t<,  the  end  of  the  world." 

We  cannot,  then,  understand  the  office  of  the  mini-try, 
unless  we  associate  it  with  the  humiliations  of  the  Son  of 
God.    These  themes,  apparently  so  diverse,  are  inseparably 


10 

interwoven  in  the  New  Testament.  How  closely,  for  exam- 
ple, do  the  suffering  Saviour  and  the  Preacher  of  the  Word 
stand  associated  in  that  familiar  passage  :  "All  things  are 
of  God,  who  hath  reconciled  us  unto  himself  by  Jesus  Christ, 
and  hath  given  to  us  the  ministry  of  reconciliation,  to  wii: 
that  God  ivas  in  Christ  reconciling  the  world  unto  himself, 
not  imputing  their  trespasses  unto  them;  and  hath  committed 
unto  us  the  word  of  reconciliation.  Note,  then,  we  are  ambas- 
sadors for  Christ ;  as  though  God  did  beseech  you  by  us,  we 
■pray  you,  in  Christ's  stead,  be  ye  reconciled  to  God.  For  he 
hath  made  him  to  be  sin  for  us  who  knew  no  sin,  that  ire 
might  be  made  the  righteousness  of  God  in  him."  The  min- 
istry is  consecrated  hy  the  dust  of  Christ's  mid-day  jour- 
neys, and  the  dews  that  fell  on  his  upturned  brows,  as  he 
prayed  through  the  solemn  night :  by  the  red  sweat  of 
Getlisemane  and  the  water  and  the  blood  of  Calvary.  Its 
ordination  robes  are  the  linen  bands  that  swathed  the 
wasted  body  of  Jesus,  and  its  perfumes  are  the  spices 
that  were  laid  in  his  tomb.  If  a  sweet  constraint  of 
nature  causes  the  widow  to  cherish  the  tokens  of  her  hus- 
band— his  letters,  his  unforgotten  words,  the  love-lock 
cut  from  his  brows  before  they  were  hidden  beneath  the 
mould,  even  so  will  the  Daughter  of  Zion  cherish  the 
ministry  wherein  the  voice  of  her  departed  bridegroom 
still  speaks — wherein  she  sees  the  visible  pledge  of  Christ's 
dying  and  yet  undying  love. 

This  is  the  only  source  of  ministerial  prerogative.  Let 
pope  or  archbishop  boast :  "  I  have  palaces  and  temples  : 
I  have  great  revenues  :  I  sway  a  hundred  or  a  thousand 
churches;  I  am  an  honored  leader  amid  the  societies  of 
men."  *'  But,  me,"  a  true  minister  alone  can  say,  '<  but 
me  a  suffering  Saviour  has  set  apart  to  preach  his  glo- 
rious gospel."  The  appointment  of  such  a  man  indicates 
that  God  has  published  overtures  of  peace  to  the  race; 
that  the  grace  which  once  distilled  like  dews  on  the  fields 
of  Palestine  now  pours  in  showers  of  mercy  on  the  waste 
places  of  the  world.  Great  is  that  office  whose  graces 
were  purchased  by  redemption,  and  whose  message  is 
redemption  itself! 

Nor,  again,  is  the  object  to  which  the  ministry  is  devo- 


11 


ted,  loss  illustrious,  lis  end  is  thai  Jesus  may  fill  all 
things.  It  was  for  this  purpose  that  he  passed  above  the 
heavens;  all  the  heavens;  all  that  we  sec  of  celestial 
glory,  whether  it  burns  in  the  orb  of  day,  or  glitters  in 
the  nocturnal  constellations.  He  went  there  to  occupy  a 
throne  which  human  enmity  could  not  reach,  and  which 
the  wrath  of  devils  should  assail  in  vain.  Thence  his 
power  should  he  felt  along  the  course  of  (he  a<j;es.  There, 
at  the  righl  hand  of  God,  he  should  reign  until  all  ene- 
mies were  put  under  his  i'cv\.  lie  had  begun  the  work  on 
earth  ;  he  must  behold  its  completion  from  heaven.  Here 
he  had  sown  the  immortal  seed;  there  he  must  wait  for 
the  purple  harvest,  more  precious  than  the  fruit  of  the 
vine.  And  now,  ministers  are  the  husbandmen  whom  the 
Lord  of  the  Harvest  sends  forth  into  Ins  vineyard.  They 
are  the  spiritual  builders  who  must  construct  God's  temple 
on  the  sure  foundation  stone.  In  the  ministry  Christ 
asserts  his  right  to  the  universe,  and  this  is  the  method 
by  which  that  right  is  to  he  vindicated.  They  preach  his 
truth;  they  proclaim  his  dying  love;  and  as  they  dis- 
charge their  sacred  embassy,  the  authority  of  Christ  and 
the  energy  of  the  Spirit  attend  their  words;  and  never 
shall  their  glorious  function  cease,  until  the  name  of 
Christ  shall  he  honored  cyci'\  where,  and  the  whole  Dum- 
ber of  his  people  shall  lie  saved.  It  matters  not  where 
this  ministry  perform  their  functions,  whether  under  the 
shadows  of  the  forest  or  amid  the  mountain  caverns  and 
snows,  whether  in  log  cabins  or  in  ceiled  houses;  they 
are  Christ's  gifts  to  the  world,  the  officers  Of  Hini  around 
whom  saints  and  angels  gather  far  above  the  airy  and 
the  starry  heavens — of  Him  who  is  throned  in  the  place 
of  God's  peculiar  residence — of  Him  who  is  the  King  01 
kings,  and  the  Lord  of  lords. 
To  this  ministry,  established  at  his  ascension,  purchased 

by  his  blood,  and  sent  to  Bubdue  the  world  to  hifl  domin- 
ion, our  Lord  imparts  gifts  suited  to  their  office.  A  min- 
istry  without  gifts  is  not  thai    which  Christ  has  se1   up. 

Here  is  the  weak  point  in  that  doctrine  of  BUCCC8Sion,  by 
which  a  minister   links  hi-  0WD    Ordi nation    1"  a  Slipp08itt- 

tious  list  of  appointments  running  back   to  the  da 


12 

the  Apostles.  If  even  these  genealogies  were  authentic, 
of  what  value,  we  might  ask,  is  a  series  of  ordinations, 
descending  through  a  series  of  prelates,  whose  office  was 
unscriptural,  and  many  of  whom  did  not  pretend  that 
they  had  the  grace  of  God  in  their  hearts — of  what  value, 
when  a  church  did  not  elect  the  candidate  to  the  min- 
istry— of  what  value,  ahove  all,  when  he  who  hoasts  of  his 
orders  may  perchance  have  never  been  called  by  Christ  to 
the  sacred  office?  Can  merely  human  ordinations,  which 
are  contrary  to  the  Saviour's  prescriptions,  establish  a 
new  office  in  his  kingdom  ?  We  think  not.  For  our  part 
we  insist  that  it  is  necessaiy  to  follow  the  directions  of 
the  King  of  Zion,  in  order  to  have  a  valid  ordination. 

lie  knows  what  his  churches  need,  and  has  provided  for 
that  need  in  every  age.  For  the  original  establishment  of 
his  Kingdom  he  founded  extraordinary  offices;  for  its 
growth,  the  ordinary  ministry.  Temporaiy  offices  were 
framed  for  that  peculiar  age,  when  error  and  iniquity 
were  universal ;  and  the  gospel  banner  was  unfurled 
against  kings,  and  priests,  and  nations.  Then  the  gifts 
of  inspiration,  prophecy  and  miracle  were  needed  to  sus- 
tain the  cause  of  God  on  earth;  and  accordingly  apostles 
and  prophets  were  raised  up,  in  addition  to  the  ordi- 
nary ministry  for  this  work.  They  established  the  first 
churches.  But  now  these  officers  have  been  withdrawn. 
What  they  effected  by  their  labors,  Ave  are  to  effect  by 
their  words.  The  ordinary  minister  follows  the  extraor- 
dinary. The  ordinary  are  qualified  to  act  in  the  settled 
state  of  the  churches — to  preach  the  word,  to  perform  the 
ordinances,  to  inculcate  the  doctrines  and  precepts  of  the 
Head  of  the  church.  On  this  account  Paul  and  Barnabas 
ordained  elders  in  every  city  of  Asia  Minor,  where  they 
succeeded  in  establishing  churches. 

As  wTe  glance  over  Paul's  enumeration  of  the  ancient 
offices  of  instruction,  it  is  evident  that  but  one  of  these 
offices  now  remains.  uAre  all,"  he  says,  "apostles;  are 
all  prophets ;  are  all  teachers;  are  all  workers  of  miracles; 
have  all  the  gifts  of  healing  ;  do  all  speak  with  tongues ;  do 
all  interpret?"  There  are  no  apostolic  ministers  but  those 
marked  down  in  this  catalogue;  and  of  these,  but  one — 


13 

the  teacher — remains.  And  lie  is  a  teacher,  as  this  pas- 
sago  indicates,  by  the  grace  of  Christ  imparted  to  him. 
It  follows,  therefore,  that  neither  eloquence  nor  secular 
learning  are  indispensable  to  a  minister;  he  may  he  a 
chosen  servant  of  G-od  without  either.  For  none  of  those 
gifts  can  effect  conversion.  Our  hearts  may  bo  ravished 
with  eloquence;  our  intellect  and  taste  may  he  delighted 
with  large  views  ami  graceful  images;  and  yet  our  souls 
may  he  lost . 

Nevertheless  this  niinist ry,  grand  and  peculiar  as  it  is, 
is  dependent  upon  study.  The  teacher  must,  of  necessity, 
first  be  the  learner.  The  ministerial  gift  is  not  a  mere 
animal  instinct,  as  many  seem  to  Suppose,  which,  without 
reflection,  perfectly  performs  its  worlc— it  is  a  human 
quality — a  talent  which,  like  all  others,  demands  assidu- 
ous culture.  If  it  he  an  implanted  capacity  of  religious 
knowledge  and  utterance,  this  capacity  musl  he  supplied 
with  appropriate  aliment.  If  it  lie  a  grace,  in  this  -rare 
wo  must  grow.  Need  we  argue  that  it  must  he  of  incal- 
culable advantage  to  the  religious  instructor  familiarly  to 
know  the  languages  of  inspiration  ;  the  antiquities  which 
explain  so  large  a  number  of  its  texts;  the  facts  of  his- 
tory, scriptural  and  ecclesiastic,  so  influential  in  their 
Warnings  and  their  mighty  inspirations;  the  experien- 
ces of  his  predecessors  in  the  pastoral  office;  the  nature, 
the  harmony  and  the  certainty  of  that  body  of  doc- 
trines wherein  the  essential  spirit  of  the  Gospel  dwells ; 
and  the  most  approved  methods  of  instruction  and  per- 
suasion?    Such    are    the   studies   which  gave   efficiency 

to  our  predecessors,  and  which  are  not  the  less  needed  by 

our  ministry  now.  We  are  apt  to  wonder  at  the  influ- 
ence exerted  by  "the  Fathers"  over  the  Christian  thought 
of  all  subsequent  ages,  and  we  wonder  at  the  overmas- 
tering power  of  the  reformers  of  the  sixteenth  century; 
but  we  need  not  wonder — these  nun  were  mighty,  J  ust 
because  being  tirst  inspired  by  religious  zeal,  they  had 
also  compassed  the  Learning  of  their  age.  The  fact  is 
very  suggestive,  that  when  Julian,  the  wisesl  of  all  the 
Christian  persecutors,  sought  to  re-establish  Paganism,  he 
declared  that   be   could    not    undermine   Christian!! 


14 

long  as  its  pastors  unci  defenders  were  the  most  learned 
men  of  the  empire,  and  therefore  began  his  nefarious 
enterprise  by  forbidding  Christians  to  teach  grammar, 
eloquence  and  philosophy.*  And  so,  on  the  other  hand, 
when  an  institution  of  Christian  learning  has  boon  wisely 
arranged  and  thoroughly  organized,  we,  on  our  part, 
are  permitted  to  rejoice,  inasmuch  as  the  foundations  of 
Christ's  cause  arc  more  deeply  laid,  and  as  its  means  of 
influence  are  gloriously  multiplied. 

Such  is  the  thought  which  possesses  me — a  compara- 
tive stranger — as  I  revisit  this  charming  place.  1  am  not 
insensible  to  that  glory  and  blessedness  descending  from 
these  unbounded,  muny-hued  and  changeful  skies.  I 
exult  in  contemplating  these  broad  and  undulating  land- 
scapes, carpeted  with  green,  solemn  with  groves,  sublime 
with  distant  mountains;  these  rivers  that  along  their 
channels  of  grey  primeval  stone,  and  with  the  pure 
beauty  and  frequent  song  of  waterfalls,  descend  south- 
ward and  eastward  to  their  ministry  of  blessing.  But 
there  is  a  subtler  spirit  in  this  air — a  holier  investiture 
upon  this  vast  plateau !  Here  the  tribute  of  a  whole 
denomination  to  Christ's  cause  has  been  collected.  Here, 
amid  the  heights,  as  anciently  from  Noah's  altar,  the 
smoke  of  its  accepted  sacrifice  ascends  and  mingles  with 
the  clouds  of  heaven.  And  hence  proceed  those  streams 
that  generation  after  generation,  and  century  after  cen- 
tury, shall  make  glad  the  City  of  our  God  ! 

So  much  of  the  present  and  the  past.  What  of  the 
future?  We  have  before  us  a  number  of  students,  who, 
having  either  passed  through  the  entire  course  of  theo- 
logical study,  or  who,  having  received  instruction  in  vari- 
ous of  its  schools,  are  about  to  enter  upon  the  work  of  the 
ministry;  and  others  who  contemplate  that  work  at  more 
remote  periods.  May  I  not,  then,  be  permitted,  before  I 
conclude,  to  speak  of  that   sphere   for    which   this    Insti- 

*  Butler's  Lives  of  the  Saints.  1  p.  7s2.  It  is  carious  to  find  an  English  Prelate  of 
tin-  age  of  Queen  Anne,  recommending  the  re-adoption  of  Julian's  policy  against 
Christians.  "Sharp,  Archbishop  of  York,  held  that  the  Church  was  in  danger  from 
seminaries  maintained  by  the  Dissenters,  and  be  assumed  this  broad  principle,  that 
the  education  of  the  nation  ought  to  be  left  entirely  in  the  hands  of  the  Established 
Church." — I'ict.  Hist.  England,  vol.  iv,  p.  117. 


15 

t  lit  ion  is  training  its  pupils — the  practical  sphere  of  the 
ministry — the  building  up  of  Christ's  holy  cause,  and  {he 
guarding  of  his  churches  from  the  incursions  of  error. 

Hi  sun',  sum  me  Dcus,  qui  tibi  militant: 
Hi  sunt,  <|ni  stabiles  sedifioant  domos  : 
Una  docta  cohors  arma  tenel  maun, 
Muros  construit  altera.* 

Suffer  me  still,  for  the  season,  to  magnify  my  office. 
Let  me  say  that  the  ministry  is  given  " for  the  perfecting 
of  the  saints,"  i.  e.,  as  the  word  signifies,  for  Betting  them 
in  order  as  churches.  The  churches  without  a  ministry 
are  in  a  state  of  incompleteness — with  a  ministry  they 
are  marshalled  like  an  army  in  battle  array.  The  min- 
ister is  not  a  priest,  as  many  maintain,  for  the  merely 
human  priesthood  has  been  abrogated,  Christ,  having 
assumed  to  himself  all  its  functions  of  sacrifice,  inter- 
cession and  blessing.  There  is  no  human  being  who  now 
may  stand  between  man  and  Cod,  much  less  who  may 
absolve  us  from  obedience  to  any  of  tin1  divine  com- 
mandments, or  from  tin1  guilt  of  our  sins.  The  minister 
is  the  religious  teacher  of  the  church — the  performer  of 
their  public  services — the  leader  in  their  public  devotions 
and  their  familiar  friend  and  counsellor.  In  his  appoint- 
ment provision  has  been  made  for  the  maintenance  of  the 
orderly  worship,  the  riles,  the  discipline  and  the  commu- 
nion of  (he  Gospel. 

And  now.  this  office  having  been  established,  and  this 
officer  being  at  his  post,  he  must  address  himself  to  the 
work  of  the    ministry;    for   his  position    is   not  an    honor, 
but  a   sphere  of   labor.     It   is   not  a   means   of   personal 
advancement  ;    but    a    charge,   upon    which    great     i 
depend,  and  of  which  a  solemn   account    must    he  given. 
It  any  take  their  duties  easily,  they  are  certainly  not  the 
persons  whom  the  apostolic  epistles  describe.     '1  In 
men  in  the  early  chiuvh  called  themselves  "theservat 
the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,"  and  the  title  will  apply  to  the  true 
minister  of  these  days.     And  the  specific  duty  assigned  to 
the  minister  is  "the  edifying  of  the  body  of  Christ."     H< 
must  labor  for  the  conversion  of  the  impenitent  ;  ho  must 

*  Parisian  Bi 


16 

strive  to  gather  the  number  of  Christ's  elect  out  of  the 
world  j  in  company  with  his  fellows  in  the  sacred  office — 
those  who  have  lived,  and  those  who  are  now  living,  and 
those  who  shall  live  hereafter,  to  rear,  stone  by  stone,  the 
mighty  fabric  of  the  divine  temple  until  all  the  elect  are 
built  on  the  foundation  of  the  apostles  and  prophets,  Jesus 
( 'hrist  himself  being  the  chief  corner  stone,  and  the  whole 
spiritual  structure  is  erected,  and  the  headstone  stands 
fixed  with  shoutings  of  "  grace,  grace  unto  it." 

But,  simultaneously  with  this  enterprise,  another  must 
be  carried  on.  The  ministry  must  labor  that  the  churches 
shall  become  more  trustful,  diligent,  loving,  Christ-like. 
While  they  are  engaged  in  gathering  God's  children  out 
of  the  companies  of  his  enemies,  and  rearing  God's  temple 
amid  the  ruins  of  an  apostate  world,  they  must  seek  to 
win  for  themselves  and  their  churches  higher  gifts  in 
time,  and  superior  glories  in  eternity.  For  conversion 
is  but  the  beginning  of  the  work,  while  a  career  of  toil 
and  jieril  lies  beyond.  Ah  !  when  the  sun  of  righteous- 
ness rises  upon  us  at  the  first,  it  is  a  glorious  and  hopeful 
morning  in  which  we  see  nothing  to  fear.  The  earth 
shines  with  new  lustre;  heaven  beams  with  beauty;  and 
we  look  forth,  beyond  the  scenes  of  the  present,  to  a 
bright  and  lair  eternity:  but  when  the  clouds  and  the 
storm  gather,  the  soul  needs  encouragement  and  instruc- 
tion; and  so  the  minister  is  provided  for  that  hour.  And 
even  the  subsequent  works  of  righteousness  may  be  peril- 
ous ;  they  may  engender  that,  pride  that  comes  before  a 
fall.  The  tree  needs  to  strike  its  roots  more  deeply  into 
the  soil,  that  it  may  support  its  increasing  wealth  of 
foliage  and  the  weight  of  its  ripening  fruit.  And  so  the 
believer,  as  he  grows  in  grace,  must  take  a  firmer  hold  upon 
the  mere}7  of  his  Saviour.  And  therefore  the  minister  is 
appointed  perpetually  to  hold  forth  Christ  crucified  before 
the  people.  And  so  in  every  instance.  The  church  is  to 
be  built  upon  Christ;  to  rest  on  this  rock,  to  indulge  no 
hope  of  salvation  but  in  this  Saviour.  All  are  to  be  perse- 
veringly  taught  that  God  requires  us  to  glorify  his  name 
in  the  very  sphere  in  which  his  providence  has  placed 
us.    All  to  be  assured,  whatever  the  difficulties  and  straits 


17 


of  their  condition,  that  they  have  a  religious  work  to  do, 
just  where  they  are;  and  thai  they  can  do  all  things 
through  Christ  thai  strengthened  them.  A.  11  are  to  be 
stimulated  to  labor  for  unity — the  unity  oi  each  church 
and  the  unity  of  all  believers;  nol  a  mere  formal  anity, 
nol  a  unity  of  indifference  or  a  unity  of  compromise,  bul 
siici  i  unity  as  would  exist,  if  all  who  profess  Christ's  name 
did  actually  receive  his  teachings,  and  did  faithfully  obey 
the   ordinances   of  his    word.      They  should    not    be    silent 

on  these  subjects.  They  should  be  zealous  to  speak  the 
truth,  and  yet  careful  to  "speak  the  truth  in  love." 
apostles  were  not  silent  when  idolatrous  feasts  and  holi- 
days divided  the  church  at  lionie;  they  did  nol  look  with 
indifference  upon  the  strife  of  parties  and  sects  at  Corinth, 
and  the  grievous  wolves  that  preyed  upon  the  flock  at 
Ephesus;  they  did  not  withhold  their  admonitions  when 
the  abrogated  rights  of  Judaism  were  imposed  upon  the 
churches  of  Calatia.  Neither  should  the  minister 
churches  Of  JeSUS  Christ  he  silent  now.  when  the  majori- 
ty of  Christians  give  ecclesiastical  membership  to  per- 
sons incapable  of  its  intelligent  and  voluntary  reception, 
and.  at  the  same  time,  withhold  communion  from  the 
persons  they  have  received;  thus,  in  the  one  instance, 
changing  the  New  Testamenl  polity,  and  in  the  other. 
confounding  the  churches  and  the  world.  We  are  hound 
to  strive  tor  unity,  remembering  always  that  there  can 
be  no  true  unity  except  upon  the  gospel  platform.  This 
is  the  aggressive  work-  of  the  ministry. 

On  the  other  hand,  there  is  a   defensive  work.     Tic 
ministry  must  guard  the  churches  from  external  dan 
False  doctrines  have  ever  threatened  the  members,  and 
interfered  with  the  mission  of  the-''  sacred  associations. 
Eph.  iv,  14. — sometimes,  like  violent  wind-,  assailing  the 
churches  at  intervals  with  dangerous  impetu 
tine-,  by  persistent  insinuation  and  stealthy  craftin< 
fee  ting  their  members,  and   producing  in  them  a  feeble, 
fluctuating,  capricious  religion,  wholly  unworthy  ol  the 

name  of  piety.      Sueh    is  the   <  0 

phy.  on  the  one  hand — "the   Religion  of  R 

baa  been  called;  and  ot   superstition,  <>n  t 


religion  of  form  and  ceremony,  and  blind  feeling.     The 

apostles  repeatedly  denounce  the  teachers  of  these  false 
beliefs.  Paul  compares  them  to  gamblers  whose  busi- 
ness is  contemptibly  trifling,  and  who  cheat  while  they 
trifle.  And  to  guard  his  people  against  them,  is  one  of 
the  ends  sot  directly  before  a  minister,  lie  must  ever 
remember  that  it  is  the  truth  which  forms  a  strong  and 
hoi}'  church  ;  and  that  it  is  the  ministry  of  truth  which 
shall  induce  the  brethren  to  bring  forth  fruits  of  right- 
eousness to  the  glory  of  God,  and  which  shall  maintain 
those  bonds- of  faith  and  love  that  make  Christian  com- 
munion inviolable.  Thus  shall  the  churches,  under  the 
discipline  of  the  Captain  of  Salvation,  and  marshalled  by 
his  appointed  servants,  present  their  embattled  front 
against  the  world  The  minister,  indeed,  will  not  escape 
from  censure,  or  the  church  cither,  if  the}^  are  loyal  to  the 
truth:  just  as,  fortius  reason,  the  apostles  and  prophets 
Avere  condemned  of  old,  and  our  Master  "  bore  the  contra- 
diction of  sinners  against  himself."  But  wre  may  leave 
the  consequences  with  Him.  lie  will  take  care  of  us; 
and  here,  in  our  earthly  flelds  of  conflict,  he  will  permit 
us  to  gather  those  trophies,  which  shall  follow  us,  like 
the  banners  and  spoils  and  white-robed  throngs  attend- 
ant upon  the  triumphal  cars  of  old,  as  we  ascend  to  the 
Heaven  of  Heavens,     llev.  xiv,  13. 


d 


